“Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday threatened Israel and the U.S. with “a
crushing response” over attacks on Iran and its allies. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
spoke as Iranian officials are increasingly threatening to launch yet another
strike against Israel after its Oct. 26 attack on the Islamic Republic that
targeted military bases and other locations and killed at least five people.
Any further attacks from either side could engulf the wider Middle East,
already teetering over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s
ground invasion of Lebanon, into a wider regional conflict just ahead of the
U.S. presidential election this Tuesday. “The enemies, whether the Zionist
regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing
response to what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and to the
resistance front,” Khamenei said in video released by Iranian state media.”











<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>



Eye on Extremism



November 4, 2024



Associated Press: Iran’s Supreme Leader Threatens Israel And US With ‘A
Crushing Response’ Over Israeli Attack
<[link removed]>



“Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday threatened Israel and the U.S. with “a
crushing response” over attacks on Iran and its allies. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
spoke as Iranian officials are increasingly threatening to launch yet another
strike against Israel after its Oct. 26 attack on the Islamic Republic that
targeted military bases and other locations and killed at least five people.
Any further attacks from either side could engulf the wider Middle East,
already teetering over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s
ground invasion of Lebanon, into a wider regional conflict just ahead of the
U.S. presidential election this Tuesday. “The enemies, whether the Zionist
regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing
response to what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and to the
resistance front,” Khamenei said in video released by Iranian state media.”



Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Israel Ends Agreement with UN Agency
Providing Aid in Gaza
<[link removed]>



“Israel said Monday it had terminated the agreement facilitating the work of
the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza, in
what appeared to be a step to implement legislation passed last month that
would sever ties with the agency and prevent it from operating in Israel.
Israel says the agency, known as UNRWA, has been infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA
denies the allegations and says it takes measures to ensure its neutrality. On
Sunday, Israel said its troops had carried out a ground raid into Syria to
seize a Syrian it accuses of working with Iran. It was the first time in the
current war that Israel announced its troops operated in Syrian territory.
Despite growing pressure from the United States and others in the international
community for a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, intensified Israeli strikes
against the Hezbollah militant group are expanding beyond Lebanon’s border
areas.”




CEP Expert Analysis

*
ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency In September 2024
<[link removed]>

*
CEP Report: Civilian Counterterrorism Militias Take Action, Introduce New
Challenges to Combatting Violent Extremism in Africa
<[link removed]>

*
CEP Policy Brief: Identifying and Disrupting Key Antisemitic Actors
<[link removed]>

*
Extremist Content Online: Extreme Right Celebrates Anti-Muslim Immigration
Riots on Telegram and X
<[link removed]>

*
Counterpoint Brief: US Designates Nordic Resistance Movement Specially
Designated Global Terrorist Organization
<[link removed]>




CEP Mentions



The Guardian: ‘He’s Like A Gangster’: How Tommy Robinson Became Leader Of
Britain’s Far Right
<[link removed]>



“... Robinson presents a problem for the prison service. “The decisions around
how and where Robinson will be held are fraught with difficulty for prison
bosses,” said Ian Acheson, a counter-extremism adviser and former prison
governor. Robinson’s supporters report that he is being held in a segregated
unit in Belmarsh prison for his own safety. They claim he is at risk of attack
from Muslim prisoners. Acheson warned that attempts were being made to
propagandise his imprisonment, and misinformation about his treatment was
already spreading on social media. The Tommy Robinson propaganda machine seems
unlikely to go away.”



The Times: Three Months After Southport Stabbing, Separate Terrorism Claims
Emerge
<[link removed]>



“Tuesday was three months to the day that Axel Rudakubana is accused of
carrying out a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport…
Writing in August, Ian Acheson, a former counter-terrorism official who also
worked as director of community safety at the Home Office, warned that pursuing
a strategy of minimal information risked creating a void that would be
exploited by elements of the far-right determined to break community cohesion.
Acheson called for all the facts about the background of the alleged
perpetrator to be disclosed “as soon as possible,” urging the police not to
engage in “further dithering”.”



Daily Mail: Tommy Robinson 'Will Be Held In Segregation' For His Own
Protection As Prison Bosses Face A 'Nightmare' Over How To Deal With Far-Right
Activist After He Was Jailed For 18 Months
<[link removed]>



“Tommy Robinson faces a long spell in segregation for his own protection after
being jailed for 18 months for contempt of court. The 41-year-old, whose real
name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, admitted 10 breaches of a 2021 High Court order
barring him from repeating libellous allegations against Syrian refugee Jamal
Hijazi, who had successfully sued him… Former prison governor Ian Acheson said
the decision where to put Robinson would be a 'real headache' for the prison
service. 'You have someone who would not be considered an escape risk, hasn't
been convicted for a crime of violence and has been found guilty of breaking a
civil restriction, so normally he could be put in open conditions,' he said.”



Express: Tommy Robinson’s Life In Prison: Far-Right Activist ‘Kept In
Isolation For Own Safety’
<[link removed]>



“Tommy Robinson is returning to prison after he pleaded guilty to contempt of
court after repeating libellous claims he made about a Syrian refugee. The
far-right activist repeated his remarks that schoolboy Jamal Hijazi "violently
attacks young English girls in his school”, comments that led to him being
ordered to pay £100,000 in damages in 2021… Robinson was also kept isolated
during his last stint in prison, something which would be a "headache" for
prisoner officers, according to former prison governor Ian Acheson. He said:
"You have someone who would not be considered an escape risk, hasn't been
convicted for a crime of violence and has been found guilty of breaking a civil
restriction, so normally he could be put in open conditions,' he said.”



GB News: Tommy Robinson Is Guilty But Is ‘Solitary Confinement’ A
Disproportionate Punishment – Charlie Peters Analysis
<[link removed]>



“Love or loathe him, all can agree that Tommy Robinson faces a torrid time as
he is committed to imprisonment after pleading guilty to contempt of court. At
Woolwich Crown Court this week, we heard from Mr Justice Johnson that
Robinson’s breaches of an injunction following a libel trial that he lost were
so serious that any suggestion of a non-custodial sentence was impossible… Ian
Acheson, the former head of security at HMP Wandsworth, told me the authorities
will face ‘a big headache when dealing with Robinson' s custody.’ He said that
on the one hand the offence for which he received a prison sentence is
relatively minor and there is no record of him misbehaving in his previous
sentence.”



Voice Of America: Recent US Strikes Spotlight Growing Islamic State Threat In
Syria
<[link removed]>



“... IS had maintained training camps in the Syrian desert for many years,
according to Gregory Waters, a research analyst at the Counter Extremism
Project who closely follows IS activities in central Syria. "These are the
places where it trains the next generation of fighters — often children it
recruits from northeast Syria — and where adult fighters can return to in
between their operations," Waters told VOA. "While the central Syrian desert is
under Russian and Syrian regime control, ISIS does not abide by these arbitrary
lines." He added that IS cells in the central desert support the cells
operating in northeast Syria, which is largely under the control of U.S.-backed
and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.”



United States



NBC News: Hate Crime And Terrorism Charges Filed After Jewish Man Shot In
'Targeted' Attack
<[link removed]>



“Hate crime and terrorism charges were announced Thursday after a Jewish man
was shot while walking to synagogue in Chicago over the weekend in what police
now say was a “targeted” attack. Police had earlier this week announced
multiple charges against 22-year-old Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, who originally
faced six counts of attempted first-degree murder and seven for aggravated
discharge of a firearm at officers and firefighters, among other charges. On
Thursday, Abdallahi was charged with an additional felony count of terrorism
and one felony count of a hate crime, Chicago’s top cop, Supt. Larry Snelling,
said. “We want everybody to know that we will never tolerate violence that’s
rooted in hate and bigotry,” Snelling said during a press conference announcing
the charges.”



Associated Press: Pentagon Bolsters the US Presence in the Middle East with
Bombers, Fighter Aircraft and Warships
<[link removed]>



“Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is sending bomber aircraft, fighter jets and
more Navy warships to the Middle East to bolster the U.S. presence in the
region, the Pentagon announced Friday, as an aircraft carrier and its ships are
preparing to leave. Austin ordered several B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft,
a squadron of fighter jets, tanker aircraft and Navy destroyers to deploy to
the Middle East, said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, in a
statement. He said they will begin arriving in the region in coming months, as
the USS Abraham Lincoln begins to head home. The military moves come as
Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon rage, including a
retaliatory strike on Iran a week ago that likely damaged a base that builds
ballistic missiles and launches rockets as part of Tehran’s space program.”



Syria



Associated Press: Israel Says It Carried Out Ground Raid into Syria, Seizing a
Syrian Citizen Connected to Iran
<[link removed]>



"The Israeli military said Sunday it has carried out a ground raid into
Syria, seizing a Syrian citizen involved in Iranian networks. It was the first
time in the current war that Israel announced its troops operated in Syrian
territory. Israel has carried out airstrikes in Syria multiple times over the
past year, targeting members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and officials from Iran,
the close ally of both Hezbollah and Syria. But it has not previously made
public any ground forays into Syria. The Israeli military said the seizure was
part of a special operation “that took place in recent months,” though it did
not say exactly when it occurred.”



Iran



Associated Press: Iran’s Help Has Transformed Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Into a
Potent Military Force, UN Experts Say
<[link removed]>



“Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been transformed from a local armed group with
limited capabilities to a powerful military organization with support from
Iran, Iraqi armed groups, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants, and others, U.N.
experts said in a new report. The Iranian-backed Houthis have exploited the
Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and worked to enhance their status in Iran’s
self-described “Axis of Resistance” to gain popularity in the region and
beyond, the experts monitoring sanctions against the Houthis said in the
537-page report to the U.N. Security Council. To support Iranian-backed Hamas
militants, whose surprise attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparked
the war in Gaza, the Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea and the
Gulf of Aden, disrupting global shipping in a key geopolitical area.”



Associated Press: Iran Executes a Jewish Citizen Convicted of Murder Following
a Dispute Over Money
<[link removed]>



“Iran on Monday executed a Jewish citizen convicted of murdering another man
in 2022 following a personal dispute, reports said. It was a rare case of an
execution of a member of a religious minority in the predominately Muslim
nation. Mizanonline.ir, a website affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, said
23-year-old Arvin Ghahremani was put to death after the country’s Supreme Court
affirmed the capital punishment handed down in the case earlier last year. The
report quoted Hamid Reza Karimi, the prosecutor of the western city of
Kermanshah, as saying the court and the convicted man’s lawyers and relatives
had failed to convince the victim’s family to abstain from qisas — an act under
Islamic penal code that calls for similar punishment, or an “eye for an eye” —
and effectively pardon his killer. The victim’s name was not provided.”



Lebanon



Reuters: Israeli Military Says It Killed Hezbollah Unit Commander in Southern
Lebanon
<[link removed]>



"The Israeli military said on Saturday it had killed Jaafar Khader Faour, a
commander of Hezbollah's Nasser Brigade rocket unit in southern Lebanon, and
said he had been responsible for multiple attacks on Israel since October
2023." "Hezbollah did not immediately comment or confirm Faour's death."



Israel



Reuters: Israel Says It Kills One Of Hamas' Last Senior Officials
<[link removed]>



“The Israeli military said on Friday it killed senior Hamas official Izz
al-Din Kassab, describing him as one of the last high-ranking members of Hamas
responsible for coordinating with other groups in the Gaza Strip, in an
airstrike in Khan Younis. The Palestinian group mourned the death of Kassab in
a statement, adding that he was killed along with another Hamas official named
Ayman Ayesh in an Israeli attack on their car in the enclave. Hamas sources
told Reuters that Kassab was a local group official in Gaza but not a member of
its decision-making political office.”



Bloomberg: Netanyahu’s Office Is Accused Of Leaks To Thwart Gaza Cease-Fire
<[link removed]>



“Two months ago, when a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas seemed close, a
new obstacle arose: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his troops must hold
the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent Hamas from rearming and smuggling out Israeli
hostages. Many in Israel’s security establishment dismissed the demand and
accused Netanyahu of avoiding a deal to keep the war going. Yet within days,
two journals — Germany’s Bild and London’s Jewish Chronicle — published
articles based on documents that supported Netanyahu’s point, and suggested
that Hamas was obstructing a deal. Those reports have since come under harsh
scrutiny and triggered a rare top-level investigation accusing officials,
including a Netanyahu aide, of leaking classified documents and exaggerating
their significance.”



Reuters: Israeli Airstrikes Kill At Least 31 People In Gaza, Medics Say
<[link removed]>



“Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in the Gaza Strip on Sunday,
Palestinian medics said, with nearly half of the deaths in northern areas where
the army has waged a month-long campaign it says is aimed at preventing Hamas
from regrouping. Palestinians said the new aerial and ground offensives and
forced evacuations were "ethnic cleansing" aimed at emptying two northern Gaza
towns and a refugee camp of their population in order to create buffer zones.
Israel denies this, saying it is fighting Hamas militants who launch attacks
from there. Medics said at least 13 Palestinians were killed in separate
attacks on houses in Beit Lahiya town and Jabalia, the largest of the enclave's
eight historic camps and the focus of the army's new offensive.”



Middle East



The Washington Post: Arab States Resist U.S. Pressure To Denounce Houthis
<[link removed]>



“Timothy Lenderking, President Joe Biden’s special envoy to Yemen, has made
several appeals to the Egyptians in recent months. He has done the same with
the Saudis and other Arab partners, and each time his message is more or less
the same. “I’ve told all of them that they need to do more,” Lenderking said in
a recent interview about the Houthis, the Iranian-backed militant group that,
for the past year, has waged an aggressive campaign against the United States,
Israel and commercial ships traversing the Red Sea — all in the name of
defending the Palestinians amid Israel’s devastating war in Gaza. What
Lenderking means is that Washington’s Arab partners need to do more to counter
the Houthi hero narrative in the Middle East.’



Egypt



Reuters: Egypt Hosts Fatah-Hamas Post-War Gaza Talks As Part Of Ceasefire
Efforts
<[link removed]>



“Senior officials of the rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas are meeting
in Cairo to discuss forming a committee to manage Gaza's post-war governance,
an Egyptian security source was quoted as saying by Egypt's Al Qahera News TV
on Saturday. The talks are part of Egypt's broader mediation efforts to broker
a ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hamas and to expand humanitarian
access to the enclave. Leaders from Hamas and the Fatah faction of Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas met in Cairo last month to discuss forming the
committee based on a proposal put forward by Egypt, but talks were adjourned
for later discussion, sources close to the talks told Reuters.”



Voice of America: Protesters Demonstrate in Tel Aviv to Demand End of War,
Return of Hostages
<[link removed]>



“Hundreds of protesters in Tel Aviv, Israel, voiced their frustration with
the government Saturday for failing to secure a truce to bring the remaining
hostages in Gaza home. Flag-waving demonstrators in the country's commercial
hub held placards with slogans including "Deal now," "Stop the war" and "We
won't abandon them," and beat drums and chanted "Why are they still in Gaza?"
"There have been countless opportunities to end this crisis, and each one was
torpedoed by the government," said demonstrator Zahiro Shahar Mor, a
52-year-old bank employee from Tel Aviv. "The cycle of violence is escalating
week after week and we see no end," said Mor, whose uncle Avraham Munder was
killed in captivity in Gaza, and who is campaigning for the release of others'
loved ones.”



France



Le Monde: Eight On Trial Over Terrorist Killing Of French Teacher Who Held
Class On Charlie Hebdo Cartoons
<[link removed]>



“Four years after history-geography high school teacher Samuel Paty was
assassinated by a radicalized 18-year-old Chechen assailant, on October 16,
2020, the time for the major trial has come. The defendants are eight adults,
who were, to varying degrees, involved in the deadly chain of events that led
to the teacher being beheaded as he left his school in the town of
Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, in the Paris region. Starting on Monday, November 4,
they are standing trial before the Paris special criminal court. The courts
have already ruled, albeit only partially, on certain responsibilities involved
in the chain of events that led to this terrorist attack. At the end of a trial
held behind closed doors, as required by the law concerning minors, six former
middle school students, who were aged between 13 and 15 at the time of the
events, were sentenced by the juvenile court on December 8, 2023, to penalties
ranging from a suspended sentence of 14 months to a six-month prison sentence.”



Europe



Reuters: Greek Anti-Terrorism Police Accuse Three Over Athens Apartment Blast
<[link removed]>



“Greece's anti-terrorism unit has accused three people of participating in a
terrorist group, following a bomb explosion which killed a 36-year-old man and
seriously hurt a woman in an apartment in Athens this week, police said on
Saturday. Anti-terrorism police suspect the case is linked to
anti-establishment guerrilla groups and the blast occurred while the bomb was
being made, police officials have said. Among the accused in the legal case are
the 33-year-old injured woman who is being treated at an Athens hospital since
the blast occurred on Thursday, and a 31-year-old Greek man arrested after
testifying on Friday night. He is expected to appear before a prosecutor on
Saturday. According to police sources, the man said he was linked to the flat
but has denied any involvement in the explosion. He has been arrested in the
past in Germany.”



Southeast Asia



The New York Times: Sikh Activists See It As Freedom. India Calls It Terrorism.
<[link removed]>



“In the months since Canada and the United States accused India of carrying
out assassination plots against Sikh separatist leaders on North American soil,
a lingering question has hung over the accusations: Why would the Indian
government take such a risk? Inside India, the Sikh cause to carve out a land
called Khalistan from the state of Punjab largely fizzled out decades ago. Yet
the Indian government still frames the Khalistan movement as a threat to
national security — for reasons more mundane but no easier to weed out. India
has repeatedly accused Khalistan-related activists in countries like Pakistan
and, more recently, Canada of sponsoring gang warfare, drug trafficking and
extortion in India.”



Reuters: Eleven Injured In Militant Attack In India's Kashmir
<[link removed]>



“At least 11 people were injured when militants threw a grenade at Indian
security forces on Sunday in a crowded flea market in Srinagar, capital of
India-administered Kashmir, a police official said. Militants missed their
target and instead injured at least 11 people, the official told Reuters. The
official wished to remain unnamed as he was not authorised to speak to the
media. The identity of the militant group responsible for the attack is
unknown. The injured were rushed to hospital for treatment where they were in a
stable condition, the official said, adding that the explosion had caused panic
in the market and sent shoppers scrambling for cover. The attack comes a day
after a top commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a militant Islamist group, was
killed along with two other militants by Indian troops in Kashmir.”



The Economic Times: The Economic Times: Jammu and Kashmir: Two Militants
Killed in Encounter in Anantnag
<[link removed]>



"Security personnel on Saturday killed two militants in Jammu and Kashmir's
Anantnag district. Search operations and encounters have been taking place in
multiple districts of the Union territory on Saturday. An encounter broke out
between security forces and terrorists on Saturday in the Khanyar locality of
Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital here, officials said. Security forces
launched a cordon and search operation in the Khanyar area of the city on
Saturday morning following inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area,
the officials added. They said the search operation turned into an encounter
after the terrorists fired upon a search party of the forces, who retaliated.”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
you value what we do, please consider making a donation.

DONATE NOW
<[link removed]>
 




Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>